Never Forgiven
by AfterDarkHours
Summary: Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakashi are sent to search for Sasuke.  They find him quickly, but the fight between them is even faster.  Why won't Sakura forgive Naruto?


Never Forgiven

"Sakura." Poke.

"Sakura." Poke.

"Sakura." Poke.

"Sakura." Poke.

"What!?" The pink haired kunoichi sat up in bed with a furious look on her face.

The fox-like boy sitting at the end of her bed grinned. "We're going to look for Sasuke today, remember? It's time to get ready!"

Sakura glared at him, but the oblivious boy continued to grin cheerfully. "It's not even light yet, Naruto!" She glanced at the alarm clock on her beside table and groaned. Not even 5 a.m. yet. "We don't leave until noon!"

A puzzled look replaced Naruto's usual happy on as it finally began to dawn on he idiotic boy that perhaps Sakura did not wish to be woken up so early. "But… I though you might want time to get ready. You know, like puttoing on make up to cover blemishes and fixing your hair so your big forehead won't show." The blonde boy smiled hesitantly but cowered down at the sight of Sakura's face.

She took a couple of deep breaths to calm the flames shooting from her eyes and the vein sticking out of her big forehead. Big. Forehead.

"That's it! Get out, Naruto!" Sakura chucked her alarm clock at his head, missing him but having the satisfaction of watching him fall off the end of her bed with a loud thump.

Naruto stood up and ran out of the house, thankfully with his body still intact. The alarm clock, however, wasn't so lucky. Pieces were scattered all over the floor, and an irritating "Wake up! Wake up!" was repeating itself over and over.

"Ugh!" Sakura flopped back on the bed and covered her head with her pillow, but it was no use. Naruto had woken her up quite thoroughly.

As she began to get dressed, she belatedly wondered how Naruto had gotten into her house in the first place. All the windows and doors were locked just for this reason. She made sure of that every night, and there was no way her parents would be up this early.

Sakura glanced down at the broken remains of her alarm clock and her eyes lit on black powder leading a trail out of her room. She followed it, and she sighed when she saw where the powder led: the chimney on the other side of the house. Of course Naruto would go down the chimney and leave soot strewn around the house for her to clean up.

She took out the broom and dust pan and set to cleaning, all the while planning Naruto's murder in her head.

Sakura's anger at Naruto still hadn't diminished by the time she arrived by the Konoha gate, though she was no longer planning to kill him. Of course, if she happened to harm him on accident…

She was the first one there, but Naruto arrived soon after. For once, he was smart enough to stay away from her when she was mad.

The last one to arrive was their sensei, Kakashi, which was no surprise. He only arrived an hour late this time, probably because Sakura had told him to meet two hours earlier than they were really supposed to.

"Kakashi-sensei, you're an hour late! We need to get looking for Sasuke!." The blonde loud-mouth complained like he always did, though he should have been used to it by now.

"Only an hour? I though I was supposed to be here at 8." Kakashi mused.

"No, I just said that to get you here faster. It didn't work as good as I would have liked it to." Sakura snapped.

Both of the men looked at her, strange images of each other. Naruto ruined the semblance by jumping up and down, eager to go. Kakashi turned to him, smirking underneath the mask he always wore.

They headed out, Naruto in the lead of course. Sakura rolled her eyes but followed. As much as he got on her nerves, she would deal with it if it meant finding Sasuke.

They found him much quicker than she would have thought was possible; it was almost as if Sasuke was looking for them at the same time.

The three of them stared at Sasuke silently and received the same treatment in return. Finally, Naruto stepped forward, and spoke.

"Sasuke."

"Naruto."

"You know why we're here."

"You know what my answer will be."

"Yes. Yes, I do." Naruto was unusually quite; that unnerved Sakura more than anything else. Kakashi, of course, was standing quietly, as still as a statue. Nothing ever seemed to faze him.

Sasuke moved unexpectedly and appeared behind her. She reflexively moved out of the way, and heard rather than saw a kunai hit the tree straight ahead of where she had been standing.

She had no time to react when he popped up right above her. Sakura closed her eyes and put her hands up to protect her face, a kunai in each hand, but she wasn't expecting it to do much good.

A breath of air cause her to open her eyes back up, only to see blue sky and trees above her. Sasuke had suddenly disappeared from her view, but she could hear him cursing strongly a few yards away from her.

Sakura stood quickly and moved into the cover of the forest, checking around her to make sure no traps were laid. Now that she was focused, it was much easier not to get into trouble.

She heard more strongly flavored words, and she glanced to her right. Her eyes widened when she saw Sasuke pinned to a tree with a shurikan pierced straight his left leg. He was pushed in so far that he couldn't pull it out, but as Naruto crept closer, the only expression on his face was fury.

They spoke, but Sakura was too far to hear what was being said, partially because of her heart thumping in her throat. Sasuke had been caught, and would be coming home. She was sure she would be able to change him, and to make he realize all the good things he had left behind.

"I've been given orders to kill you on sight."

Sakura froze. There was no way Naruto just said that. No way.

"Should I be surprised?" Sasuke laughed harshly and kept pulling at the shurikan, but it wasn't loosing at all.

"No, I suppose not, considering all you've done to Konoha. Still, I wish…" For a moment, Sakura could hear the pain in Naruto's voice that he had never let through before. Sakura hoped that that pain might make him change his mind about killing Sasuke.

Naruto shook his head. "It doesn't matter what I wish. I will protect my home." He moved faster than Sakura could follow, and she'd been with Naruto for years.

When Naruto moved out of the way seconds later, though it felt like much longer, Sasuke no longer had his usual glare on his face. His eyes were closed, and he looked peaceful, like this would have been the way he would have chosen to die if he had been given a choice.

Sakura shrieked. His face may have looked peaceful, but the kunai sticking through his chest gave away the face that he wasn't just sleeping.

Her scream caused Naruto to turn, and she saw the tears on his cheeks, but it didn't matter. He had just killed his best friend!

"How could you?" Sakura wailed and ran at him with all her strength, her fist curled into a fist at her side. Naruto didn't move, nor did he answer. He looked as if he didn't what happened to him anymore.

Her fist almost connected with his nose, but some force from behind her stopped the motion. She struggled furiously, but the grip that held her refused the loosen.

Eventually she relaxed, hoping they would think she was done, but when she saw who was holding her, she knew her hope was in vain.

"Control yourself, Sakura. This was our mission, and Naruto completed it, no matter what he wanted to do." Kakashi looked at her, and Sakura realized that he was sad as well.

"Why didn't you tell me?" She managed to choke past her fury and tears.

Kakashi just looked at her, and she completely broke down in tears. "I'm sorry! I just thought we would be able to bring him back! That I might get a chance to show him what he left behind." Kakashi finally released her, and she collapsed to the ground and buried her face in her hands.

Naruto hadn't moved other than to close his eyes against the tears rolling down his whiskered cheeks. At the moment, he hated himself more than Sakura hated him, he was sure.

They all cried, even Kakashi, who let a single tear creep down his mask.

Sakura never forgave him, nor did he try to make her. She knew he had never forgiven himself, either.

Well? What do you think? I know I haven't been writing for a while, which I'm sure some of you are grateful for, but I hope you like this. I would appreciate any reviews you could give me, preferably no flames, though! Thank you for reading!


End file.
